Method of packaging and preserving perishable products

ABSTRACT

The steps in the method of preserving a perishable product in a container formed of impermeable material, which steps comprise purging the container with an inert fluid after the product is in the container, and after the purging step, sealing the container against the ingress of environmental air. The container is provided with a product inlet opening, with openings for the ingress of inert fluid and for the egress of air and for sealing the container (1) after the product is within the container and (2) after completing the purging.

United States Patent Esty [451 'July 4,1972

[54] METHOD OF PACKAGING AND PRESERVING PERISHABLE PRODUCTS [72]Inventor: Joseph J. Esty, San Diego, Calif. 92101 221 Filed: Dec.2l,1970 [21] Appl. No.: 100,338

Related u.s. Application um [62] Division of Ser. No. 827,852, May 26,1969, Pat. No.

[52] 0.8. CI ..53/22 B, 53/37 [51] Int. Cl ..B65b 31/04 [58] Field ofSearch ..53/7, 22 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,242,686 5/1941 Tin'ell ..53/7 X 3,261,140 7/1966 Long et a] ..53/22 BPrimary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee AttorneyWarre'n H. Schmieding [57]ABSTRACT The steps in the method of preserving a perishable product in acontainer formed of impermeable material, which steps comprise purgingthe container with an inert fluid after the product is in the container,and after the purging step, sealing the container against the ingress ofenvironmental air. The container is provided with a product inletopening, with openings for the ingress of inert fluid and for the egressof air and for sealing the container l after the product is within thecontainer and (2) after completing the purging.

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JOSEPH J. EST) A T TORNE Y METHOD or PACKAGING AND PRESERVINGPERISIIABLE PRODUCTS CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The presentapplication is a division of application Ser. No. 827,852 filed May 26,1969, now US. Pat. No. 3,610,516. Applicant has also been granted US.Pat. No. 3,521,806 dated July 28, 1970 which issued from his Ser. No.645,968 filed June 14, 1967. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention The invention is directed to the packaging of a perishableproduct, such as food, flowers, etc., wherein the container for theproduct is purged of air by an inert fluid after the product is placedtherein and thereafter the container is sealed with the inert fluidtherein.

2. Description of the Prior Art Applicants copending application Ser.No. 645,968, filed June 14, 1967' is the most pertinent prior art.

The patent to Ferguson et al. US. Pat. No. 2,718,105 is directed topackage manufacture and the filling of the package, but does not suggestpurging the package of air with an inert fluid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The container of the present invention includesa product inlet opening and two other openings for the ingress andegress of a purging fluid such as nitrogen gas, argon gas, etc. Afterthe product is placed in the container, it is sealed except the purgingfluid openings. Thereafter, inert fluid is forced through the container,purging the same of air, and thereafter the inert fluid openings areclosed by sealing the container about those openings. Suitable areas areprovided on the container for sealing one side of the container to theother side.

Other features and the advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings wherein preferred embodiments of the invention areillustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view of one side of acontainer showing one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1, showing theposition of the opposite sides of the container with the product inletopen prior to any of the sealing steps, and showing a product therein;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper part of thecontainer, the section being taken along line 22 of FIG. 1, showing theposition of the sides of the container after the first sealing step isperformed;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but showingthe position of the sides of the container after the second sealing stepis performed;

FIG. 5 is a view of one side of a container showing another embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5, showing thepositioning of the opposite sides of the container with the productinlet open prior to any of the sealing step and showing a producttherein;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper part of thecontainer, the section being taken along line 77 of FIG. 5, showing theposition of the sides of the container after the first sealing step isperformed;

FIG. 8 is a top plan fragmentary view of the right end of the container,the view being taken looking in the direction of arrows 8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view looking in the direction ofarrows 9 in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 7, but showingthe positions of the side portions of the container after the secondsealing step is performed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The containers may be of anytype in which portions thereof may be sealed to one another, and, in thepreferred embodiments, the container is formed of a heat sealing plasticsuch as polyethylene, polystyrene, etc., or suitably treated paperhaving heat-sealing characteristics. A preferred form of container isdisclosed in the parent application of the present divisionalapplication, Ser. No. 827,852 filed May 26, 1969.

Referring first to the container 20 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, inclusive, itis provided with two sides and for the sake of simplicity of disclosure,one side is termed as the front side 22 and the other side is referredto as the rear side 24. These sides are integral. The top of thecontainer is provided with a product inlet opening 26 and the bottom 28is sealed to the sides 22 and 24.

The container 20 is provided with two openings 30 and 32 below theproduct inlet opening 26, herein shown in the front side 22. A sealingarea 34, shown by dot and dash lines, extends to opposite side edges ofthe front and back of the container and seals the confronting front andrear sides of the container intermediate the product inlet opening 26and the openings 30 and 32. A sealing area 36, shown by dot and dashlines, extends to opposite side edges of the front and back of thecontainer and seals the confronting front and rear sides of thecontainer below the openings 30 and 32. These openings are for theingress of an inert fluid such as nitrogen gas, argon gas, etc., and forthe egress of such fluid and air. For the sake of simplicity, openings30 and 32 are referred to as the gas inlet and gas outlet openings,respectively.

In carrying out the process, after the product 38, such as perishablefood or flowers, is placed in the container 20 through the product inletopening 26, the upper part of the container is sealed completely alongthe entire sealing area 34. Therefore, access to the interior of thecontainer is had only through openings 30 and 32, i.e., the container ishermetically sealed except at openings 30 and 32. Afterthat sealing stepis performed, opening 30 receives a tube (not shown) which is connectedwith a source of inert gas. The gas flows into the container to driveall air out of the container through the outlet opening 32. After all ofthe air is purged from the container and after the inert gas fills thespace about the product, the container is completely sealed from theoutside environment by sealing along the sealing area 36. Thus theproduct is subjected thereafter only to the inert gas which inhibitsgrowth of bacteria.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, like in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the container includes the front side122, the rear side 124, the product inlet 126 and the bottom 128. Thecontainer includes two sealing areas 134 and 136, Like area 36 in FIGS.1 to 4, area 136, as shown by dot and dash lines, extends to oppositeside edges of the front and back of the container and seals theconfronting front and rear sides of the container, but the sealing area134 above area 136 stops short of the opposite edges of the container,as shown by dot and dash lines 134. Thus the space between the left endof area 134 and the left edge of the container provides an inert gasopening 130 which is accessible from the top opening 126 of thecontainer, and the space between the right end of area 134 and the rightedge of the container provides an inert gas and air outlet 132. The airand some inert gas is expelled through the top opening 126.

In carrying out the process with this embodiment, FIGS. 5 to 10, afterthe perishable product is placed into the container through the productinlet opening 126, the container is sealed along the area 134, i.e., theback is sealed to the front except at the outer edges of the containerto thus form openings I30 and 132. Thereafter a tube (not shown), whichis connected with a source of inert gas, is inserted into opening 130.The incoming gas completely purges the interior of all air therein.After all air is purged and supplanted with inert gas, the container iscompletely sealed at the endless sealing area 136.

As previously stated, the containers are formed of heat sealing plastic.Therefore, all sealing areas are sealed by applying sufficient pressureand heat at those areas.

By virtue of the present invention, I have provided an inexpensiveprocess of preserving perishable products.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product in acontainer formed of impermeable material having a product inlet opening,which steps comprise:

A. inserting the product through the product inlet opening;

8. thereafter hermetically sealing the container to partlyclosedposition to provide an inlet opening and an outlet opening below theproduct inlet opening;

C. thereafter purging the interior of the container by forcing an inertfluid through the container through those portions of the containerwhich remain open;

D. and thereafter completely hermetically sealing the container from theenvironment and the source of inert fluid by completely sealing the samebelow the fluid inlet and outlet openings.

2. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 1, characterized in that the inert fluid is a gas. 7

3. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 1, characterized in that the container is a flexiblebag.

4. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 1, characterized in that the container is formed ofheat sealing plastic material and further characterized in that thesealing is by applying heat and pressure at the sealing areas.

5. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product in acontainer formed of impermeable material having a product inlet opening,which steps comprise:

A. inserting the product through the product inlet opening;

B. thereafter hermetically sealing the container below the product inletopening to partly-closed position to provide spaced openings leading toand from the container;

C. thereafter purging the interior of the container by forcing an inertfluid through the container through those portions of the containerwhich remain open;

D. and thereafter completely hermetically sealing the-last mentionedopenings from the environment and the source of inert fluid. V

6. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 5, characterized in that the inert fluid is a gas.

7. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 5, characterized in that the container is a flexiblebag. I

8. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 5, characterized in that the container is formed ofheat sealing plastic material and further characterized in that thesealing is by applying heat and pressure at the sealing areas.

9. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable productcontained in a flexible bag having a product inlet opening at the topthereof and formed of an impermeable material which is capable of beingsealed by applying heat and pressure thereto, which steps comprise:

A. inserting the product into the bag through the product inlet opening;

B. thereafter applying heat and pressure to confronting sides of theupper part of the material forming the bag to seal the same, below theproduct opening, except at two spaced areas;

C. thereafter purging the interior of the bag of air by forcing an inertfluid into the bag through one of the non-sealed areas andsimultaneously forcing air out of the bag through the other non-sealedarea;

D. and thereafter completely hermetically sealing the material of thebag from the outer environment and the source of the inert fluid byapplying heat and pressure across and to the opposite side e ges ofconfronting surfaces of the upper part of the bag below the productinlet opening. 10. The steps in the method as defined in claim 9,characterized in that the inert fluid is a gas.

1. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product in acontainer formed of impermeable material having a product inlet opening,which steps comprise: A. inserting the product through the product inletopening; B. thereafter hermetically sealing the container topartlyclosed position to provide an inlet opening and an outlet openingbelow the product inlet opening; C. thereafter purging the interior ofthe container by forcing an inert fluid through the container throughthose portions of the container which remain open; D. and thereaftercompletely hermetically sealing the container from the environment andthe source of inert fluid by completely sealing the same below the fluidinlet and outlet openings.
 2. Those steps in the method of preserving aperishable product as defined in claim 1, characterized in that theinert fluid is a gas.
 3. Those steps in the method of preserving aperishable product as defined in claim 1, characterized in that thecontainer is a flexible bag.
 4. Those steps in the method of preservinga perishable product as defined in claim 1, characterized in that thecontainer is formed of heat sealing plastic material and furthercharacterized in that the sealing is by applying heat and pressure atthe sealing areas.
 5. Those steps in the method of preserving aperishable product in a container formed of impermeable material havinga product inlet opening, which steps comprise: A. inserting the productthrough the product inlet opening; B. thereafter hermetically sealingthe container below the product inlet opening to partly-closed positionto provide spaced openings leading to and from the container; C.thereafter purging the interior of the container by forcing an inertfluid through the container through those portions of the containerwhich remain open; D. and thereafter completely hermetically sealing thelast mentioned openings from the environment and the source of inertfluid.
 6. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable productas defined in claim 5, characterized in that the inert fluid is a gas.7. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 5, characterized in that the container is a flexiblebag.
 8. Those steps in the method of preserving a perishable product asdefined in claim 5, characterized in that the container is formed ofheat sealing plastic material and further characterized in that thesealing is by applying heat and pressure at the sealing areas.
 9. Thosesteps in the method of preserving a perishable product contained in aflexible bag having a product inlet opening at the top thereof andformed of an impermeable material which is capable of being sealed byapplying heat and presSure thereto, which steps comprise: A. insertingthe product into the bag through the product inlet opening; B.thereafter applying heat and pressure to confronting sides of the upperpart of the material forming the bag to seal the same, below the productopening, except at two spaced areas; C. thereafter purging the interiorof the bag of air by forcing an inert fluid into the bag through one ofthe non-sealed areas and simultaneously forcing air out of the bagthrough the other non-sealed area; D. and thereafter completelyhermetically sealing the material of the bag from the outer environmentand the source of the inert fluid by applying heat and pressure acrossand to the opposite side edges of confronting surfaces of the upper partof the bag below the product inlet opening.
 10. The steps in the methodas defined in claim 9, characterized in that the inert fluid is a gas.